Martln conrad



(No Model.)

. M. CONRAD.

Running Gear for Wagons.

No. 238,487. Patented March 8,1881.

NJ'ETERS, PHDWIJTHOGRAPMER, WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT EEtcE.

MARTIN CONRAD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO SOHUTTLER 87 HOTZ, OF SAME PLACE.

RUNNING-GEAR FOR WAGONS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 238,487, dated March 8, 1881. Application filed December 21, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARTIN CONRAD, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Wagon Running-Gear, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore in lumber and other wagons having removable boxes the front wheels could not be turned so as to rub onthe reach when such wagons were used without their boxes by reason of the shearing of the fore hounds on the reach close to the sway-bar.

The object, therefore, I have in view is to overcome this objection, and to so construct the runi'xing-gear of wagons of this character that the front wheels can be turned to rub against the reach without the striking or shearing of the fore hounds on such reach.

My invention consists in constructing the fore hounds with a downward bend, and in securing the sway-bar to the ends of the hounds, so that it will project above and beyond the same and bear against the under side of the reach, as fully hereinafter explained.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the forward part of the running-gear of a wagon, and Fig. 2 a top view of the same.

Like letters denote corresponding parts in both figures.

A A are the front wheels; B, the axle, O, the sand-board, and D the bolster, all constructed in the usual manner.

The reach E is made straight and of wood, as usual, and is pivoted between the axle and the sand-board by the king-bolt F.

G G are thefore hounds, which pass between the sand-board and axle, and carry the pole H between their forward ends. These bounds are secured to the axle and sand-board, and braced from the axle by braces a, as is ordinarily the case.

I is the sway-bar, connecting theinner ends of the hounds and bearing against the under side of the reach E.

The hounds heretofore have been made to project straight backward, with only a slight inclination downward, and at theirinner ends have been nearly or quite on a level with the top of the sway-bar. The result of such construction is that when the wagon is used without its box the hounds shear on the reach before the front wheels strike such reach. This makes more room necessary in turning, and the shearing of the hounds on the reach is apt to injure or strain the parts.

By my invention the wooden hounds are bent downwardly to the rear with a single or double curve, I), and the sway-bar is secured upon the ends of the hounds and projects above the same. Asufficient space is thus left vertically hetween the innerends of the hounds and the reach, so that such hounds can swing clear of the reach and will allow the wheels to rub on the rub-irons c secured to such reach. In order to preserve the strength of the wood, the hounds are steamed and bent, instead of being sawed, into the desired shape. The ends 61 ot' the sway-bar extend beyond the hounds, as shown, for the purpose of giving a bearing on the reach when the front wheels are turned inwardly to the farthest point. A metal circle, K, is secured upon the hounds above the reach, as usual, to prevent the dropping down to the rear of the front part of the runninggear.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a wagon running-gear, the wood fore hounds, G G, bent downwardly to the rear to points below the under side of the reach, in combination with the sway-bar 1, extending above said hounds and rubbing against the under side of the reach, whereby the fore wheels can be turned against the reach without striking the hounds on such reach, substantially as described and shown.

2. In wagon running-gear, the combination, with the fore axle, B, and reach E, of the wood fore hounds, G G, bent downwardly to points below the under side of the reach, the swaybar I, extending above the hounds and projecting at its ends beyond the same, and the rub-irons c on the reach, all constructed and arranged substantiallyas described and shown.

MARTIN CONRAD.

Witnesses:

OTTo N EwHoUsE, E1). SENDELBAGII. 

